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Highest Paying Social Sciences Majors

Top 50 Social Sciences college majors by estimated median 5-year earnings

# College Major Degrees Accept Earnings ROI Employ Debt-to-Earn Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl SAT p25 SAT p50 SAT p75 Submit %
1 U. of Pennsylvania International Studies 45 5% $277,260 100 94% — 44% 33% 27% 4% 9% 22% 1500 1530 1560 70%
2 Stanford Communication 22 4% $152,368 100 92% — 41% 23% 27% 27% 5% 0% 1520 1550 1570 77%
3 Tufts Cognitive Science 47 11% $120,704 98 100% — 32% 45% 13% 13% 6% 6% 1460 1490 1520 58%
4 Yale Political Science 119 3% $119,348 98 91% — 55% 46% 11% 10% 13% 11% 1480 1520 1560 92%
5 Middlebury International Studies 45 13% $117,243 98 82% — 49% 38% 11% 2% 27% 16% 1460 1500 1530 49%
6 Duke Public Policy Studies 151 5% $116,508 97 95% — 26% 54% 11% 13% 11% 1% 1510 1540 1570 75%
7 Stanford Symbolic Systems 113 4% $115,491 98 96% — 54% 21% 32% 9% 15% 13% 1520 1550 1570 77%
8 Stanford International Relations 79 4% $115,196 98 92% — 29% 29% 15% 6% 23% 10% 1520 1550 1570 77%
9 MIT Computation and Cognition (Course 6-9) 55 5% $115,069 98 — — 33% 25% 31% 18% 11% 5% 1520 1550 1570 100%
10 U. of Pennsylvania Political Science 98 5% $110,430 97 89% — 51% 35% 11% 16% 19% 11% 1500 1530 1560 70%
11 U. of Pennsylvania Legal Studies & Business Ethics 10 5% $110,020 96 — — 40% 40% 20% 10% 30% 0% 1500 1530 1560 70%
12 Harvard Government 141 4% $109,910 97 94% — 54% 42% 14% 11% 15% 11% 1440 1500 1550 100%
13 U. of Virginia Public Policy 120 16% $109,477 96 95% — 35% 67% 7% 8% 7% 2% 1410 1460 1510 60%
14 U. of Pennsylvania Cognitive Science 95 5% $108,539 96 90% — 31% 26% 28% 9% 6% 23% 1500 1530 1560 70%
15 Yale Humanities 24 3% $107,780 95 99% — 38% 54% 12% 12% 8% 4% 1480 1520 1560 92%
16 Yale Cognitive Science 66 3% $107,334 95 — — 26% 29% 23% 18% 12% 12% 1480 1520 1560 92%
17 Duke Political Science 81 5% $104,260 92 97% — 60% 51% 9% 6% 20% 5% 1510 1540 1570 75%
18 Johns Hopkins Political Science 23 6% $104,234 94 90% — 61% 35% 13% 4% 43% 4% 1530 1550 1560 77%
19 Yale Global Affairs 76 3% $102,512 92 — — 50% 28% 20% 4% 22% 20% 1480 1520 1560 92%
20 Cornell Public Policy 42 8% $102,419 92 97% — 21% 26% 31% 14% 7% 10% 1490 1520 1550 56%
21 Carnegie Mellon International Relations and Politics 16 11% $102,294 93 — — 25% 44% 19% 0% 19% 6% 1500 1530 1560 84%
22 Brown International and Public Affairs 110 6% $101,154 91 94% — 36% 43% 10% 7% 14% 10% 1470 1510 1550 100%
23 Columbia Cognitive Science 33 5% $101,012 92 — — 30% 39% 15% 9% 12% 21% 1510 1540 1560 67%
24 Connecticut Government 22 39% $100,940 92 100% — 41% 82% 0% 5% 9% 0% 1160 1270 1370 66%
25 National Public Administration 17 100% $99,394 98 100% 4.8% 41% 18% 0% 12% 41% 0% — — — —
26 U. of Chicago Public Policy Studies 66 5% $99,298 90 94% — 27% 38% 9% 18% 29% 2% 1500 1530 1560 82%
27 U. of California, Berkeley Social Sciences 223 11% $99,114 96 92% — 43% 22% 23% 2% 25% 17% — — — —
28 U. of Chicago Global Studies 19 5% $97,593 89 96% — 5% 26% 0% 16% 32% 5% 1500 1530 1560 82%
29 Vanderbilt Political Science 49 5% $97,529 89 92% — 49% 41% 22% 12% 12% 4% 1510 1540 1560 52%
30 Muhlenberg Political Science 12 35% $97,228 91 100% — 25% 83% 8% 0% 0% 0% 1250 1330 1410 22%
31 Dartmouth Government 126 6% $96,289 89 93% — 59% 57% 10% 7% 11% 6% 1440 1500 1550 100%
32 Pomona Cognitive Science 11 7% $96,158 91 — — 18% 27% 27% 18% 9% 18% 1490 1520 1550 49%
33 Brigham Young International Affairs 26 68% $95,685 98 93% — 58% 62% 4% 0% 15% 8% 1290 1360 1430 54%
34 Harvard Psychology 101 4% $95,666 90 89% — 33% 44% 8% 9% 22% 9% 1440 1500 1550 100%
35 Tulane International Development 21 14% $95,648 87 95% — 10% 48% 10% 10% 14% 5% 1430 1470 1500 38%
36 Vanderbilt Social Sciences 283 5% $95,283 87 95% — 53% 51% 18% 7% 8% 5% 1510 1540 1560 52%
37 Colgate Political Science 81 18% $95,138 88 97% — 48% 81% 1% 1% 4% 4% 1450 1480 1510 39%
38 George Washington Political Communication 50 47% $95,015 89 91% — 28% 72% 8% 2% 8% 2% 1310 1380 1450 50%
39 Washington University in St Louis Political Science 79 12% $94,257 86 100% — 49% 58% 8% 9% 15% 4% 1500 1530 1550 61%
40 Colby Political Science 50 8% $94,019 86 100% — 60% 64% 10% 10% 8% 2% 1460 1510 1550 52%
41 Wake Forest Political Science 110 18% $93,576 85 94% — 45% 66% 5% 5% 15% 4% 1420 1460 1490 46%
42 Princeton Public Policy 121 4% $93,312 89 84% — 42% 36% 17% 8% 15% 12% 1490 1530 1560 80%
43 U. of Notre Dame Sociology 28 9% $92,927 85 100% — 25% 46% 4% 0% 29% 11% 1460 1500 1540 67%
44 Dartmouth Psychology 56 6% $92,721 87 100% — 20% 41% 12% 4% 20% 14% 1440 1500 1550 100%
45 Stanford Public Policy 19 4% $92,157 87 — — 47% 47% 21% 5% 5% 5% 1520 1550 1570 77%
46 Brown Behavioral Decision Sciences 27 6% $92,156 85 — — 30% 30% 19% 7% 30% 7% 1470 1510 1550 100%
47 American University Public Communication 113 66% $91,764 89 100% — 16% 65% 3% 5% 12% 8% 1320 1380 1440 22%
48 Lehigh Cognitive Science 15 29% $91,609 86 — — 53% 67% 7% 7% 0% 0% 1380 1430 1480 43%
49 UCLA Public Affairs 120 9% $91,424 91 91% — 17% 33% 17% 3% 28% 3% — — — —
50 Georgia Tech Literature, Media, and Communication 64 13% $91,315 93 93% — 44% 39% 41% 9% 3% 3% 1370 1460 1530 100%